What is Michele Bachmann Thinking?
Michele Bachmann signs a pledge to ban gay marriage, porn - and Islam (courtesy of the House)
As if we needed one more reason to despise Rep. Michele Bachman (R-Minnesota) – the presidential contender recently signed a pledge that seeks to ban gay marriage in a constitutional amendment. It also suggests that African-American children were better off when they were born into slavery and that women should basically become baby machines because “robust childbearing and reproduction is beneficial to the U.S. demographic.”
The pledge was created by The Family Leader, a conservative Christian group in Iowa that has compared gay marriage to second-hand smoke and considers gay men to be a serious public health risk.
The Family Leader is organized by Bob Vander Plaats who helped unseat three Supreme Court justices who helped to legalize gay marriage in Iowa (he’s also becoming a Tea Party leader who’s supported folks like Mike Huckabee as governor). Bachmann is the first GOP candidate for president to sign the pledge. Plaats is asking each of the candidates to follow suit.
“The Family Leader views this pledge as an important component needed to inform constituents about the personal stand that each presidential candidate takes regarding marriage,” says Plaats. “We believe that the candidates’ positions on core values, such as marriage, correlate directly to his/her moral stances on energy issues, sound budgeting policies, national defense and economic policies.”
Bob Vander Plaats created the pledge (courtesy of The Family Leader)
According to the Des Moines Register, Bachmann admitted she had no hesitation signing the pledge – called “The Marriage Vow: A Declaration of Dependence Upon Marriage and Family.” The document even has a footnote claiming that half of gay and bisexual men won’t live to be 65 years old. The source used to cite the claim says the research is outdated from the height of the AIDS epidemic and has no bearing on today’s health standards.
In total, the pledge offers 14 different bullet points, including one that states that homosexuality is a choice (the pledge wants to undermine any legislation that would grant rights to LGBT people suggesting that being gay isn’t a genetic disposition).
The pledge also compares homosexuality to “polygamy, adultery and polyandry.”
Anyone who agrees to sign this pledge by August 1 are also asked to endorse the notion that sex is better after marriage (cue the late-night talk show jokes). The pledge also seeks to ban all pornography, saying that women who participate in porn suffer from “stolen innocence.”
Oh, and vow 11 requires that pledgers also reject Islam. Seriously.
